Visible light signal receiving and control method, control apparatus, and receiving device

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of the present application provide a visible light signal receiving and control method, a control apparatus, and a receiving device. The method comprises: determining a communication performance between a visible light signal receiving device and at least one visible light signal transmit device; and in response to a reduction of the communication performance between the visible light signal receiving device and the at least one visible light signal transmit device, using a first logic pixel unit of an image sensor related to the at least one visible light signal transmit device as at least two second logic pixel units for reading separately when reading inductive charges of the image sensor of the visible light signal receiving device. The method, apparatus, and device of the embodiments of the present application are capable of compensating reduction of a communication performance to some extent by changing the charge readout mode of an image sensor of a visible light signal receiving device, and are more suitable for visible light communications in complicated mobile scenarios.

RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims the priority to Chinese PatentApplication No. 201410645929.X filed with the Chinese Patent Office onNov. 14, 2014 and entitled “VISIBLE LIGHT SIGNAL RECEIVING AND CONTROLMETHOD, CONTROL APPARATUS, AND RECEIVING DEVICE”, which is incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

All embodiments of the present application relate to the field ofvisible communications technologies, and in particular, to a visiblelight signal receiving and control method, a control apparatus, and areceiving device.

BACKGROUND

Visible light communications (VLC) refer to wireless light communicationtechnologies that use light in the visible light wave band as a carrierof information transmission and transmit information by usinghigh-speed, light-and-shade flashing light signals emitted by a lightsource and imperceptible to naked eyes. It has advantages of hightransmit power, no electromagnetic interference, no spectrumauthentication, green and environmentally-friendly, can effectively easethe problem that radio spectrum frequency resources become exhausted,and gain more and more attention in recent years.

With the development of mobile communications technologies, more andmore visible light communications technologies are applied in mobilescenarios. Because visible light sending and receiving devices are alllikely to move and because of a complicated transmission environment ofmobile communications, performances of communications among visiblelight sending and receiving devices in the mobile scenarios are likelyto be affected.

SUMMARY

In view of the above, one example, of no-limiting objective ofembodiments of the present application is to provide a visible lightcommunications solution in a mobile scenario.

To achieve the foregoing objective, in a first aspect of the embodimentsof the present application, provided is a visible light signal receivingand control method, comprising:

determining a communication performance between a visible light signalreceiving device and at least one visible light signal transmit device;

in response to a reduction in the communication performance between thevisible light signal receiving device and the at least one visible lightsignal transmit device, taking a first logic pixel unit of an imagesensor related to the at least one visible light signal transmit deviceas at least two second logic pixel units to read separately when readingan inductive charge of the image sensor of the visible light signalreceiving device, each of the first logic pixel units comprising the atleast two second logic pixel units, and each of the at least two secondlogic pixel units comprising at least one physical pixel unit of theimage sensor.

In a second aspect of the embodiments of the present application,provided is a visible light signal receiving and control apparatus,comprising:

a determining module, configured to determine a communicationperformance between a visible light signal receiving device and at leastone visible light signal transmit device;

a control module, configured to, in response to a reduction in thecommunication performance between the visible light signal receivingdevice and at least one of the at least one visible light signaltransmit device, use one first logic pixel unit of an image sensorrelated to the at least one visible light signal transmit device as atleast two second logic pixel units to read separately when reading aninductive charge of the image sensor of the visible light signalreceiving device; and

wherein each of the first logic pixel units comprises at least two ofthe second logic pixel units, and each of the second logic pixel unitscomprises at least one physical pixel unit of the image sensor.

In a third aspect of the embodiments of the present application,provided is a visible light signal receiving device, wherein the devicecomprises the visible light signal receiving and control apparatus ofthe second aspect of the embodiments of the present application.

In a fourth aspect of the embodiments of the present application,provided is a computer readable storage device, comprising at least oneexecutable instruction, which, in response to execution, causes a systemcomprising a processor to perform operations, comprising:

determining communication performance between a visible light signalreceiving device and at least one visible light signal transmit device;

in response to a reduction in the communication performance between thevisible light signal receiving device and the at least one visible lightsignal transmit device, taking a first logic pixel unit of an imagesensor related to the at least one visible light signal transmit deviceas at least two second logic pixel units to read separately, whenreading an inductive charge of the image sensor of the visible lightsignal receiving device, each of the first logic pixel units comprisingthe at least two second logic pixel units, and each of the at least twosecond logic pixel units comprising at least one physical pixel unit ofthe image sensor.

In a fifth aspect of the embodiments of the present application,provided is a device for visible light signal receiving and controlcomprising a processor and memory, wherein the memory storing a computerexecutable instruction, the processor being connected with the memoryvia a communication bus, and when the device is operating, the processorexecutes or facilitates execution of the executable instructions storedby the memory:

determining a communication performance between a visible light signalreceiving device and at least one visible light signal transmit device;

in response to a reduction in the communication performance between thevisible light signal receiving device and the at least one visible lightsignal transmit device, taking a first logic pixel unit of an imagesensor related to the at least one visible light signal transmit deviceas at least two second logic pixel units to read separately, whenreading an inductive charge of the image sensor of the visible lightsignal receiving device, each of the first logic pixel units comprisingthe at least two second logic pixel units, and each of the at least twosecond logic pixel units comprising at least one physical pixel unit ofthe image sensor.

The method, apparatus, and device of the embodiments of the presentapplication are capable of compensating reduction in a communicationperformance to some extent by changing the charge readout mode of animage sensor of a visible light signal receiving device, and are moresuitable for visible light communications in complicated mobilescenarios.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an example flowchart of a visible light signal receiving andcontrol method of an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 2(a) to FIG. 2(f) are example schematic diagrams for changing thecharge readout mode of an image sensor of a visible light signalreceiving device according to the method of the embodiment of thepresent application;

FIG. 3(a) to FIG. 3(h) are example block diagrams of a plurality ofimplementation of a visible light signal receiving and control apparatusof the embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 4 is an example block diagram of a visible light signal receivingdevice of the embodiments of the present application; and

FIG. 5 is an example structural block diagram of a visible light signalreceiving and control apparatus of another embodiment of the presentapplication.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Specific implementations of the present application are furtherdescribed in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawingsand embodiments. The following embodiments are intended to describe thepresent application, but not to limit the scope of the presentapplication.

It should be understood by a person skilled in the art that the termssuch as “first” and “second” in the present application are only usedfor distinguishing different devices, modules, or parameters, and theyneither represent any specific technical meanings, nor represent anecessary logic sequence of the devices, modules, or parameters.

The visible light communications technologies use light in the visiblelight wave band as an information carrier and are physically implementedin two parts, namely, a visible light signal transmitting part andvisible light signal receiving part. The visible light signaltransmitting part, that is, the visible light signal transmit device inthe embodiments of the present application, comprises: an input andprocessing circuit that converts a to-be-sent signal into an electricsignal suitable for being transmitted by a light channel, and avisible-light light source driving and modulating circuit that modulatesan electric signal change into the strength change of light carrierwave. The visible light signal receiving part, that is, the visiblelight signal receiving device in the embodiments of the presentapplication, comprises: an optics system that is capable of implementingan optimal receiving of a signal light source, a light-electricconversion part that reverts a light signal to an electric signal and afront-end amplifying circuit, and a signal processing and output circuitthat converts an electric signal into a signal capable of beingidentified by a terminal. In the embodiments of the present application,the light-electric conversion part of the visible light signal receivingdevice is an image sensor (also referred to as a photosensitive element,such as a Charge Coupled Device (CCD), or a Complementary Metal-OxideSemiconductor (CMOS)). The image sensor converts light into inductivecharges upon receiving light irradiation, is capable of simultaneouslyreceiving light from light sources of a plurality of visible lightsignal transmit device, and has a stronger anti-interference capability.The image sensor consists of a plurality of pixels, which is referred toas “physical pixel unit” in the embodiments of the present applicationand is a minimal physical unit of the image sensor.

As shown in FIG. 1, the visible light signal receiving and controlmethod of the embodiments of the present application comprises:

S120: Determine a communication performance between a visible lightsignal receiving device and at least one visible light signal transmitdevice.

The visible light signal receiving device simultaneously receivesvisible light signals from a plurality of visible light signal transmitdevices through an image sensor, which as shown in FIG. 2(a), is anexemplary image sensor 200. The image sensor 200 consists of a pluralityof physical pixel units 220. As shown in FIG. 2(a), areas 240, 260, and280 indicated by three dashed boxes are configured to receive visiblelight signals from three visible light signal transmit device,respectively. During communication, the communication performance may beinfluenced by the movement of any party or change in transmissionenvironment. For example, increase of the communication distance betweensending and receiving devices, interference between visible light signaltransmit devices, or the like may cause the communication performancebetween the sending and receiving devices to be reduced.

S140: In response to a reduction in the communication performancebetween the visible light signal receiving device and the at least onevisible light signal transmit device, take a first logic pixel unit ofthe image sensor related to the at least one visible light signaltransmit device as at least two second logic pixel units to readseparately, when reading inductive charges of an image sensor of thevisible light signal receiving device.

In the method of the embodiments of the present application, in responseto reduction in the communication performance between visible lightsending and receiving devices, signal receiving channels are increasedby changing the current charge readout mode of the image sensor of thevisible light signal receiving device, that is, by changing the chargereadout mode of at least one first logic pixel unit related to thevisible light signal transmit device corresponding to the reducedcommunication performance (the at least one first logic pixel unitrelated comprises one or more first logic pixel units that receive lightsignals of the visible light signal transmit device corresponding to thereduced communication performance, for example, at least some of firstlogic pixel units of the image sensor of one or more first logic pixelunits receiving light signals of the visible light signal transmitdevice corresponding to the reduced communication performance), so as toimprove a multi-channel diversity gain and compensate the reduction inthe communication performance to some extent. When the readout modes ofa plurality of first logic pixel units are changed, the changed readoutmodes may be the same or different. Each of the first logic pixel unitscomprises at least two of the second logic pixel units. Each of thesecond logic pixel units comprises at least one physical pixel unit. Forexample, as shown in FIG. 2(a), a current charge readout mode of theimage sensor is combining each four physical pixel units as one firstlogic pixel unit to be read. According to the method of the embodimentsof the present application, if the communication performance between thevisible light signal receiving device and one visible light signaltransmit device is reduced and a first logic pixel unit related to thevisible light signal transmit device is the first logic pixel unit inthe area 240, the current charge readout mode of all the first logicpixel units or of only the first logic pixel unit in the area 240 of theimage sensor may be changed. For example, as shown in FIG. 2(b), at anext time, the first logic pixel unit in the area 240 is taken as twosecond logic pixel units to be read separately, and each second logicpixel unit comprises two physical pixel units. Alternatively, as shownin FIG. 2(c), at a next time, the first logic pixel unit in the area 240is taken as four second logic pixel units to be read separately, andeach second logic pixel unit comprises one physical pixel unit. If thecharge readout modes of two first logic pixel units are changedsimultaneously, the changed charge readout modes of the two first logicpixel units may be the same or may also be different, as shown in FIG.2(d).

To sum up, the method the embodiments of the present application iscapable of compensating reduction in the communication performance tosome extent by changing the charge readout mode of an image sensor of avisible light signal receiving device, and is more suitable for visiblelight communications in complicated mobile scenarios.

In the method of the embodiments of the present application, thecommunication performance between the visible light signal receivingdevice and the at least one visible light signal transmit device may bedetermined by various ways. For example, in a possible implementation,the communication performance may be acquired from other devices towhich the communication performance between the visible light sendingand receiving devices is known or which is able to determine thecommunication performance. Correspondingly, step S120 may comprise:

S122: Acquire the communication performance between the visible lightsignal receiving device and the at least one visible light signaltransmit device.

In another possible implementation, the communication performance mayalso be determined according to the received visible light signal by themain body executing the method of the embodiments of the presentapplication. Correspondingly, step S120 may comprise:

S124: Determine, at least according to a visible light signal receivedby each first logic pixel unit of the image sensor, the communicationperformance between the visible light signal receiving device and the atleast one visible light signal transmit device.

For example, determining the received light signals are from the samevisible light signal transmit device according to whether the strengthof the received light signals is the same or not. Alternatively,determining the received light signals are from the same visible lightsignal transmit device according to whether the modulating signalscapable of being obtained by demodulating the received light signals arethe same or not. Correspondingly, step S124 may further comprise:

S1242: Demodulate the visible light signal received by each first logicpixel unit of the image sensor.

S1244: For each of the first logic pixel units, in response to beingable to obtain a modulating signal by the demodulating, determine avisible light signal from the at least one visible light signal transmitdevice and determine the communication performance between the visiblelight signal receiving device and the at least one visible light signaltransmit device according to the determined visible light signal.

S1246: For each of the first logic pixel unit, in response to being notable to obtain a modulating signal by the demodulating, determinereduction in the communication performance between the visible lightsignal receiving device and the at least one visible light signaltransmit device.

Taking that the charge readout mode of the image sensor is taking thefirst logic pixel unit as a unit to be read as an example, a modulatingsignal transmitted by the visible light signal transmit device may beobtained by the demodulating after each first logic pixel unit beingreadout and performing analog-to-digital conversion on the inductivecharge readout from the each first logic pixel unit. The modulatingsignal is information sent from the visible light signal transmit deviceto the visible light signal receiving device by using visible light as acarrier signal. The visible light signal received by the visible lightsignal receiving device is a modulated signal that is modulated with themodulating signal. It should be noted that some of the charges sensed bythe image sensor may be from ambient light. To demodulate the modulatingsignal better, influences of the ambient light should be removed first.For example, a suitable threshold is set during charge reading to filterout the influences of the ambient light. Alternatively, throughdistinguishing an area corresponding to the light signal from thevisible light signal transmit device from an area corresponding to theambient light signal based on the strength of the received lightsignals, and processing to the related area that only receives anambient light signal is skipped. In the method of the embodiments of thepresent application, the pixel units from which a modulating signal isnot able to obtained by the demodulating do not comprise the first logicpixel unit receiving ambient light only.

Generally, when mutual interferences do not exist between visible lightsignal transmit devices, that is, in a situation where all areas of theimage sensor related to all the visible light signal transmit devicesare separate and no overlap, as shown in FIG. 2(a), light signalsreceived by all first logic pixel units related to the at least onevisible light signal transmit device are demodulated. All first logicpixel units receiving signals from the same visible light signaltransmit device can be found according to whether the signals obtainedby the demodulating are the same or not, so as to determine a visiblelight signal from the at least one visible light signal transmit device.For example, as shown in FIG. 2(a), signals obtained by demodulatingsignals received by the four first logic pixel units in the area 260should be the same. The corresponding communication performance can bedetermined according to the determined visible light signals of eachvisible light signal transmit device.

It should be noted that other suitable modes may also be used inaddition to determining visible light signals from the same visiblelight signal transmit device by determining whether the strength of thereceived light signals is the same or not, or according to whether thesignals obtained by the demodulating are the same or not.

When mutual interferences exist between the visible light signaltransmit devices, that is, in a situation where there are overlapsbetween areas of the image sensor related to at least two visible lightsignal transmit devices, as shown in FIG. 2(e), the first logic pixelunit in the area 280 may simultaneously receive visible light signalsfrom two visible light signal transmit devices. Because the first logicpixel unit is taken as one unit for charge reading currently, it isimpossible to obtain a modulating signal by demodulating the signalsreceived by the first logic pixel unit. In the method of the embodimentsof the present application, in addition to first logic pixel unitsreceiving ambient light signals, if there is a first logic pixel unit bywhich the signals incapable of being demodulated to obtain a modulatingsignal are received, it can be determined that the communicationperformance between the visible light signal receiving device and atleast a certain visible light signal transmit device is reduced, andstep S140 is further performed.

After the communication performance between the visible light signalreceiving device and the at least one visible light signal transmitdevice is determined according to the received light signals, in stepS140, the related at least one first logic pixel unit of which thecharge readout mode is changed may be one or more first logic pixelunits receiving a light signal from the visible light signal transmitdevice corresponding to the reduced communication performance, forexample, at least some first logic pixel units of the image sensorcomprising the one or more first logic pixel units that receive a lightsignal from the visible light signal transmit device corresponding tothe reduced communication performance, and the related at least onefirst logic pixel unit may also be determined according to the lightsignal received by each first logic pixel unit. That is, step S140 maycomprise:

S142: Determine a first logic pixel unit of the image sensor related tothe at least one visible light signal transmit device at least accordingto the visible light signal received by each first logic pixel unit ofthe image sensor.

In combination with similar description in step S124, a first logicpixel unit of image sensor related to the at least one visible lightsignal transmit device may be determined at least according to whetherthe strength of the received light signals is the same or not oraccording to whether the modulating signals obtained by demodulating thelight signals received are the same. However, the present application isnot limited thereto. Taking a modulating signal obtained by thedemodulating as an example, step S142 may further comprise:

S1422: Determine the first logic pixel unit of the image sensor relatedto the at least one visible light signal transmit device according tothe visible light signal determined in step S1244.

S1424: Determine that at least one first logic pixel unit by which thesignal incapable of being demodulated to obtain the modulating signal isreceived is the first logic pixel unit of the image sensor related tothe at least one visible light signal transmit device. Still taking FIG.2(a) as an example, assuming that it is impossible to obtain amodulating signal by demodulating signals received by the first logicpixel unit in the area 280, it can be determined that the at least onefirst logic pixel unit of the image sensor is the first logic pixel unitin the area 280. During charge reading at a next time, taking the firstlogic pixel unit in the area 280 as at least two second logic pixelunits to be read separately or, taking each first logic pixel unit ofthe image sensor as two second logic pixel units to be read separately,so as to reduce interference and improve communication quality. As shownin FIG. 2(e), the first logic pixel unit in the area 280 is taken asfour second logic pixel units (each of which comprises one physicalpixel unit) to be read separately, so as to distinguish pixel unitsrelated to two visible light signal receiving devices.

In addition, in the method of the embodiments of the presentapplication, the communication performance can be determined by using aplurality of possible evaluation indicators. Step S1244 may also furthercomprise:

S101: Determine at least one evaluation indicator of the communicationperformance at least according to the determined visible light signal.

S102: Determine the communication performance between the visible lightsignal receiving device and the at least one visible light signaltransmit device at least according to the evaluation indicator.

In one possible implementation, the evaluation indicator comprises: thesize of a light spot projected by the at least one visible light signaltransmit device on the image sensor.

The size of the light spot is related to the distance and the anglebetween the visible light signal transmit device and the visible lightsignal receiving device and may reflect a level of the communicationperformance to some extent. In the implementation, the size of thecorresponding light spot may be determined according to the determinedvisible light signal from the visible light signal transmit device instep S101. For example, the total area of areas corresponding to allfirst logic pixel units related to a determined visible light signal ofone visible light signal transmit device is the size of the light spotprojected by the visible light signal transmit device on the imagesensor. In step S102, the reduction in the communication performance canbe determined in response to that the size of the light spot decreases,or the reduction amount of the size of the light spot exceeds a firstthreshold, or the size of the light spot is less than a secondthreshold. The first threshold and the second threshold both can bedetermined according to the communication demand and/or historicalcommunication information. For example, the first threshold is set tosuch a value that the communication between visible light sending andreceiving devices may be influenced if the reduction amount of the sizeof the light spot exceeds the first threshold. The second threshold isset to such a value that a normal communication between visible lightsending and receiving devices may be influenced if the size of the lightspot decreases to be less than the second threshold. For example, asshown in FIG. 2(f), the size of a light spot 210 at a previous time iscorresponding to one first logic pixel unit, in response to that thesize of the light spot 210 decreases at a current time, or the reductionamount of the size of the light spot 210 exceeds the first threshold(for example, exceeds one second logic pixel unit), or the size of thelight spot 210 is smaller than one physical pixel unit, reduction in thecommunication performance between the visible light signal receivingdevice and the visible light signal transmit device corresponding to thelight spot 210 is determined. Further, through step S140, the firstlogic pixel unit related to the light spot 210 may be taken as foursecond logic pixel units (each of which comprises one physical pixelunit) to be read separately when reading inductive charges of the imagesensor of the visible light signal receiving device.

In another possible implementation, the evaluation indicator maycomprise: the signal-to-noise ratio of the visible light signaltransmitted by the at least one visible light signal transmit device andreceived by the visible light signal receiving device. The value of thesignal-to-noise ratio may reflect the level of the communicationperformance to some extent. To determine a signal-to-noise ratioaccording to a received signal is a mature existing technology in theart. In this implementation, in step S102, the reduction in thecommunication performance may be determined in response to that thesignal-to-noise ratio is reduced, or the reduction amount of thesignal-to-noise ratio exceeds a third threshold, or the signal-to-noiseratio is less than a fourth threshold. For example, the third thresholdis set to such a value that communications between visible light sendingand receiving devices may be influenced if the reduction amount of thesignal-to-noise ratio exceeds the third threshold. The fourth thresholdis set to such a value that normal communications between visible lightsending and receiving devices may be influenced if the signal-to-noiseratio decreases to be less than the fourth threshold. The thirdthreshold and the fourth threshold both can be determined according tothe communication demand and/or historical communication information.Through step S140, the related first logic pixel unit may be dividedinto at least two second logic pixel units to be read separately whenreading charges, which can reduce noise receipt during the communicationand improve the signal-to-noise ratio of the received signal.

In another possible implementation, the evaluation indicator maycomprise: the bit error ratio of the visible light signal transmitted bythe at least one visible light signal transmit device and received bythe visible light signal receiving device. The value of the bit errorratio may reflect the level of the communication performance to someextent. To determine a bit error ratio according to a received signal isa mature existing technology in the art. In this implementation, in stepS102, the reduction in the communication performance may be determinedin response to that the bit error ratio increases, or an increment ofthe bit error ratio exceeds a fifth threshold, or the bit error ratioexceeds a sixth threshold. The fifth threshold and the sixth thresholdboth can be determined according to the communication demand and/orhistorical communication information. For example, the fifth thresholdis set to such a value that the communications between visible lightsending and receiving devices may be influenced if the increment of thebit error ratio exceeds the fifth threshold. The sixth threshold is setto such a value that normal communications between visible light sendingand receiving devices may be influenced if the bit error ratio increasesto exceed the sixth threshold. Through step S140, the related firstlogic pixel unit may be divided into at least two second logic pixelunits to be read separately when reading charges, which can reduce noisereceipt during the communication and reduce the bit error ratio of thereceived signal.

In a further possible implementation, the communication performance maynot be determined directly by using a received signal, and thecommunication performance between sending and receiving devices isdetermined directly according to a change in the distance between thesending and receiving devices. The value of the distance between thesending and receiving devices may reflect the level of the communicationperformance to some extent. For example, increase of the distance maycause reduction in the communication performance. In thisimplementation, step S120 may further comprise:

S124: Determine the distance between the visible light receiving deviceand the at least one visible light signal transmit device. For example,the position of a visible light signal transmit device may be determinedin a method such as GPS positioning, to further determine the distancebetween the visible light signal transmit device and the visible lightsignal receiving device, or the distance may be acquired through directcommunications with the visible light signal transmit device.

S126: Determine the reduction in the communication performance inresponse to that the distance increases, or the increment of thedistance exceeds a seventh threshold, or the distance exceeds an eighththreshold. The seventh threshold and the eighth threshold both can bedetermined according to the communication demand and/or historicalcommunication information. For example, the seventh threshold is set tosuch a value that the communication between visible light sending andreceiving devices may be influenced if the increment of the distanceexceeds the seventh threshold. The eighth threshold is set to such avalue that normal communication between visible light sending andreceiving devices may be influenced if the distance increases to exceedthe eighth threshold.

In such the implementation, the at least one related first logic pixelunit of the image sensor may still be determined according to thedescription in step S142, or controlling to take each of all first logicpixels of the image sensor as at least two second logic pixel units tobe read directly when reading charges.

It should be noted that the communication performance may be determinedby comprehensively considering all the aforementioned evaluationindicators in the method of the embodiments of the present application.For example, the increase in the communication distance may not causethe reduction in the communication performance, and for example, thesignal-to-noise ratio of the received signal may be consideredcomprehensively. In addition to the aforementioned evaluationindicators, other indicators for evaluating the communication qualitymay further be considered in the method of the embodiments of thepresent application, for example, a channel estimation value, a systemthroughput, and any other indicators that can be easily conceived by aperson of ordinary skill in the art.

In view of the above, the method of the embodiments of the presentapplication can be simply controlled and can improve the communicationquality of visible light communications.

It should be understood that in various embodiments of the presentapplication, the value of the serial number of each step described abovedoes not mean an execution sequence, and the execution sequence of eachstep should be determined according to the function and internal logicthereof, and should not be any limitation on the implementationprocedure of the embodiments of the present application.

In addition, the embodiments of the present application further providea computer readable medium, which comprises computer readableinstructions that perform the following operations upon execution:operations of all steps in the method of the implementation manner shownin FIG. 1.

The embodiments of the present application further provide a visiblelight signal receiving and control apparatus for executing theaforementioned visible light signal receiving and control method. Theapparatus may be an apparatus independent from the visible light signalreceiving device, or may belong to the visible light signal receivingdevice. Alternatively, the apparatus is the visible light signalreceiving device. When the apparatus is the visible light signalreceiving device, in addition to all the components to be describedbelow, the apparatus may also further comprise other necessarycomponents for performing visible light communications. In addition,according to the needs of the aforementioned different execution roles,in addition to all the components described below, the apparatus furthercomprises a communication module that can implement communications withany device outside the apparatus as necessary. In addition to all thecomponents to be described below, the device may further comprise othernecessary components of the visible light signal transmit device. Also,in addition to all the components described below, the device mayfurther comprise a communication module that can implementcommunications with any device outside the apparatus (apart from thevisible light signal transmit device) as necessary. As shown in FIG.3(a), a visible light signal receiving and control apparatus 300 of theembodiments of the present application comprises a determining module320 and a control module 340.

The determining module 320 is configured to determine communicationperformance between a visible light signal receiving device and at leastone visible light signal transmit device.

The visible light signal receiving device simultaneously receivesvisible light signals from a plurality of visible light signal transmitdevices through an image sensor, which as shown in FIG. 2(a), is anexemplary image sensor 200. The image sensor 200 consists of a pluralityof physical pixel units 220. As shown in FIG. 2(a), areas 240, 260, and280 indicated by three dashed boxes are configured to receive visiblelight signals from three visible light signal transmit device,respectively. During communication, the communication performance may beinfluenced by the movement of any party or change in transmissionenvironment. For example, increase of the communication distance betweensending and receiving devices, interference between visible light signaltransmit devices, or the like may cause the communication performancebetween the sending and receiving devices to be reduced.

the control module 340 is configured to, in response to reduction in thecommunication performance between the visible light signal receivingdevice and the at least one visible light signal transmit device, takeone first logic pixel unit of an image sensor related to the at leastone visible light signal transmit device as at least two second logicpixel units to be read separately when reading inductive charges of theimage sensor of the visible light signal receiving device.

In the apparatus of the embodiments of the present application, inresponse to reduction in the communication performance between visiblelight sending and receiving devices, the control module 340 increasessignal receiving channels by changing the current charge readout mode ofthe image sensor of the visible light signal receiving device, that is,by changing the charge readout mode of at least one first logic pixelunit related to the visible light signal transmit device correspondingto the reduced communication performance (the at least one first logicpixel unit related comprises one or more first logic pixel unitsreceiving light signals of the visible light signal transmit devicecorresponding to the reduced communication performance, for example, atleast some of first logic pixel units of the image sensor of one or morefirst logic pixel units of light signals of the visible light signaltransmit device corresponding to the reduced communication performance),so as to improve a multi-channel diversity gain and compensate thereduction in the communication performance to some extent. When thereadout modes of a plurality of first logic pixel units are changed, thechanged readout modes may be the same or different. Each of the firstlogic pixel units comprises at least two of the second logic pixelunits. Each of the second logic pixel units comprises at least onephysical pixel unit of the image sensor. For example, as shown in FIG.2(a), a current charge readout mode of the image sensor is combiningeach four physical pixel units as one first logic pixel unit to be read.According to the method of the embodiments of the present application,if the communication performance between the visible light signalreceiving device and one visible light signal transmit device is reducedand a first logic pixel unit that is related to the visible light signaltransmit device is the first logic pixel unit in the area 240, thecurrent charge readout mode of all the first logic pixel units or ofonly the first logic pixel unit in the area 240 of the image sensor maybe changed. For example, as shown in FIG. 2(b), at a next time, thefirst logic pixel unit in the area 240 is taken as two second logicpixel units to be read separately, and each second logic pixel unitcomprises two physical pixel units. Or, as shown in FIG. 2(c), at a nexttime, the first logic pixel unit in the area 240 is taken as four secondlogic pixel units to be read separately, and each second logic pixelunit comprises one physical pixel unit. If the charge readout mode oftwo first logic pixel units are changed simultaneously, the changedcharge readout modes of the two first logic pixel units may be the sameor may also be different, as shown in FIG. 2(d).

To sum up, the apparatus of the embodiments of the present applicationis capable of compensating reduction in the communication performance tosome extent by changing the charge readout mode of an image sensor of avisible light signal receiving device, and is more suitable for visiblelight communications in complicated mobile scenarios.

In the apparatus of the embodiments of the present application, thedetermining module 320 may determine the communication performancebetween the visible light signal receiving device and the at least onevisible light signal transmit device by various ways. For example, in apossible implementation, the communication performance may be acquiredfrom other devices to which the communication performance between thevisible light sending and receiving devices is known or which is able todetermine the communication performance. Correspondingly, as shown inFIG. 3(b), the determining module 320 may comprise: an acquiringsubmodule 322.

The acquiring submodule 322 is configured to acquire the communicationperformance between the visible light signal receiving device and the atleast one visible light signal transmit device.

In another possible implementation, the communication performance mayalso be determined according to the received visible light signal by theapparatus of the present application. Correspondingly, as shown in FIG.3(c), the determining module 320 may comprise a first determiningsubmodule 324.

The first determining submodule 324 is configured to determine, at leastaccording to a visible light signal received by each first logic pixelunit of the image sensor, the communication performance between thevisible light signal receiving device and the at least one visible lightsignal transmit device.

For example, determining the received light signals are from the samevisible light signal transmit device according to whether the strengthof the received light signals is the same or not. Alternatively,determining the received light signals are from the same visible lightsignal transmit device according to whether modulating signals capableof being demodulated from the received light signals are the same ornot. Taking a modulating signal obtained by the demodulating as anexample, as shown in FIG. 3(d), the first determining submodule 324 mayfurther comprise: a demodulating unit 3242, a first determining unit3244, and a second determining unit 3246.

The demodulating unit 3242 is configured to demodulate the visible lightsignal received by each first logic pixel unit of the image sensor. Thedemodulating unit 3242 may be one part of the visible light receivingdevice.

The first determining unit 3244 is configured to: for each of the firstlogic pixel units, in response to being able to obtain a modulatingsignal by the demodulating, determine a visible light signal from the atleast one visible light signal transmit device and determine thecommunication performance between the visible light signal receivingdevice and the at least one visible light signal transmit device atleast according to the determined visible light signal.

The second determining unit 3246 is configured to: for each of the firstlogic pixel unit, in response to being not able to obtain a modulatingsignal by the demodulating, determine reduction in the communicationperformance between the visible light signal receiving device and the atleast one visible light signal transmit device.

According to the apparatus of the embodiments of the presentapplication, the determining module 320 needs to determine thecommunication performance between the current sending and receivingdevices according to the received signal. Taking that the charge readoutmode of the image sensor is taking the first logic pixel unit as a unitto be read as an example. A modulating signal transmitted by the visiblelight signal transmit device may be obtained by the demodulating aftereach first logic pixel unit being read and performing analog-to-digitalconversion on the inductive charge readout from the each first logicpixel unit. The modulating signal is information sent from a visiblelight signal transmit device to the visible light signal receivingdevice by using visible light as a carrier signal. The visible lightsignal received by the visible light signal receiving device is amodulated signal that is modulated with the modulating signal. It shouldbe noted that some of the charges sensed by the image sensor may be fromambient light. To demodulate the modulating signal better, influences ofthe ambient light should be removed first. For example, a suitablethreshold is set during charge reading to filter out the influences ofthe ambient light. Alternatively, through distinguishing an areacorresponding to the light signal from the visible light signal transmitdevice from that of an area corresponding to the ambient light signalbased on the strength of the received light signals, and it's possibleto ignore the related area receiving an ambient light signal onlywithout processing it. In the apparatus of the embodiments of thepresent application, the pixel units from which a modulating signal isnot able to obtained by the demodulating do not comprise the first logicpixel unit receiving ambient light only.

Generally, when mutual interferences do not exist between visible lightsignal transmit devices, that is, in a situation where all areas of theimage sensor related to all the visible light signal transmit devicesare separate and no overlap, as shown in FIG. 2(a), light signalsreceived by all first logic pixel units related to the at least onevisible light signal transmit device are demodulated. All first logicpixel units receiving signals from the same visible light signaltransmit device can be found according to whether signals obtained bythe demodulating are the same or not, so as to determine a visible lightsignal from the at least one visible light signal transmit device. Forexample, as shown in FIG. 2(a), signals obtained by demodulating signalsreceived by the four first logic pixel units in the area 280 should bethe same. The corresponding communication performance can be determinedaccording to the determined visible light signal of each visible lightsignal transmit device.

It should be noted that other suitable modes may also be used inaddition to determining visible light signals from the same visiblelight signal transmit device by determining whether the strength of thereceived light signals is the same or according to whether the signalsobtained by the demodulating are the same or not.

After determining the communication performance between the visiblelight signal receiving device and the at least one visible light signaltransmit device according to the received light signals, the related atleast one first logic pixel unit of which the charge readout mode ischanged by the control module 340 may be one or more first logic pixelunits receiving a light signal from the visible light signal transmitdevice corresponding to the reduced communication performance, forexample, at least some first logic pixel units of the image sensorcomprising the one or more first logic pixel units that receive a lightsignal from the visible light signal transmit device corresponding tothe reduced communication performance, and the related at least onefirst logic pixel unit may also be determined according to the lightsignal received by each first logic pixel unit. That is, as shown inFIG. 3(e), the control module 340 may comprise a second determiningsubmodule 342.

The second determining submodule 342 is configured to determine a firstlogic pixel unit of the image sensor related to the at least one visiblelight signal transmit device at least according to the visible lightsignal received by each first logic pixel unit of the image sensor.

In combination with similar description for the first determiningsubmodule 324, a first logic pixel unit of image sensor related to theat least one visible light signal transmit device may be determined atleast according to whether the strength of the received light signals isthe same or according to whether modulating signals obtained bydemodulating the light signals received are the same. However, thepresent application is not limited thereto. Taking a modulating signalobtained by the demodulating as an example, as shown in FIG. 3(f), thesecond determining submodule 342 may further comprise: a thirddetermining unit 3422 and a fourth determining unit 3424.

The third determining unit 3422 is configure to determine the firstlogic pixel unit of the image sensor related to the at least one visiblelight signal transmit device at least according to the visible lightsignal determined by the first determining unit 3244.

The fourth determining unit 3424 is configured to determine that atleast one first logic pixel unit by which the signal incapable of beingdemodulated to obtain the modulating signal is received is the firstlogic pixel unit of the image sensor related to the at least one visiblelight signal transmit device. Still taking FIG. 2(a) is as an example.Assuming that it is impossible to obtain a modulating signal bydemodulating signals received by the first logic pixel unit in the area280, it can be determined that the at least one first logic pixel unitof the image sensor is the first logic pixel unit in the area 280.During charge reading at a next time, taking the first logic pixel unitin the area 280 as at least two second logic pixel units (each of whichcomprises one physical pixel unit) to be read separately or taking eachfirst logic pixel unit of the image sensor as two second logic pixelunits to be read separately, so as to reduce interference and improvecommunication quality. As shown in FIG. 2(e), the first logic pixel unitin the area 280 is taken as four second logic pixel units to be readseparately, so as to distinguish pixel units related to two visiblelight signal receiving devices.

In addition, in the apparatus of the embodiments of the presentapplication, the communication performance may be determined by using aplurality of possible evaluation indicators. As shown in FIG. 3(g), thefirst determining unit 3244 may further comprise: a first determiningsubunit 301 and a second determining subunit 302.

The first determining subunit 301 is configured to determine at leastone evaluation indicator of the communication performance at leastaccording to the visible light signal.

The second determining subunit 302 is configured to determine thecommunication performance between the visible light signal receivingdevice and the at least one visible light signal transmit device atleast according to the evaluation indicator.

In one possible implementation, the evaluation indicator comprises: thesize of a light spot projected by the at least one visible light signaltransmit device on the image sensor. The size of the light spot isrelated to the distance and the angle between the visible light signaltransmit device and the visible light signal receiving device and mayreflect a level of the communication performance to some extent. In theimplementation, the first determining subunit 301 may determine the sizeof the corresponding light spot according to the determined visiblelight signal of the visible light signal transmit device. For example,the total area of areas corresponding to all first logic pixel unitsrelated to a determined visible light signal of one visible light signaltransmit device is the size of the light spot projected by the visiblelight signal transmit device on the image sensor. The second determiningsubunit 302 may determine reduction in the communication performance inresponse to that the size of the light spot decreases, or the reductionamount of the size of the light spot exceeds a first threshold, or thesize of the light spot is less than a second threshold. The firstthreshold and the second threshold both can be determined according tothe communication demand and/or historical communication information.For example, the first threshold is set to such a value that thecommunication between visible light sending and receiving devices may beinfluenced if the reduction of the size of the light spot exceeds thefirst threshold. The second threshold is set to such a value that anormal communication between visible light sending and receiving devicesmay be influenced if the size of the light spot decreases to be lessthan the second threshold. For example, as shown in FIG. 2(f), the sizeof a light spot 210 at a previous time is corresponding to one firstlogic pixel unit, in response to that the size of the light spot 210decreases at a current time, or the reduction amount of the size of thelight spot 210 exceeds the first threshold (for example, exceeds onesecond logic pixel unit), or the size of the light spot 210 is smallerthan one physical pixel unit, reduction in the communication performancebetween the visible light signal receiving device and the visible lightsignal transmit device corresponding to the light spot 210 isdetermined. Further, by using the control module 340, the first logicpixel unit related to the light spot 210 may be taken as four secondlogic pixel units (each of which comprises one physical pixel unit) tobe read separately when reading inductive charges of the image sensor ofthe visible light signal receiving device.

In another possible implementation, the evaluation indicator maycomprise: the signal-to-noise ratio of the visible light signaltransmitted by the at least one visible light signal transmit device andreceived by the visible light signal receiving device. The value of thesignal-to-noise ratio may reflect the level of the communicationperformance to some extent. To determine a signal-to-noise ratioaccording to a received signal is a mature existing technology in theart. In such the implementation, the second determining subunit 302 maydetermine reduction in the communication performance in response to thatthe signal-to-noise ratio is reduced, the reduction amount of thesignal-to-noise ratio exceeds a third threshold, or the signal-to-noiseratio is less than a fourth threshold. The third threshold and thefourth threshold both can be determined according to a communicationneed and/or historical communication information. For example, the thirdthreshold is set to such a value that communications between visiblelight sending and receiving devices may be influenced if the reductionof the signal-to-noise ratio exceeds the third threshold. The fourththreshold is set to such a value that normal communications betweenvisible light sending and receiving devices may be influenced if thesignal-to-noise ratio decreases to be less than the fourth threshold. Byusing the control module 340, the related first logic pixel unit may bedivided into at least two second logic pixel units to be read separatelywhen reading charges, which can reduce noise receipt in thecommunication process and improve the signal-to-noise ratio of thereceived signal.

In another possible implementation, the evaluation indicator maycomprise: the bit error ratio of the visible light signal transmitted bythe at least one visible light signal transmit device and received bythe visible light signal receiving device. The value of the bit errorratio may reflect the level of the communication performance to someextent. To determine a bit error ratio according to a received signal isa mature existing technology in the art. In such the implementation thesecond determining subunit 302 may determine the reduction in thecommunication performance in response to that the bit error ratioincreases, or an increment of the bit error ratio exceeds a fifththreshold, or the bit error ratio exceeds a sixth threshold. The fifththreshold and the sixth threshold both can be determined according tothe communication demand and/or historical communication information.For example, the fifth threshold is set to such a value thatcommunications between visible light sending and receiving devices mayinfluenced if the increment of the bit error ratio exceeds the fifththreshold. The sixth threshold is set to such a value that normalcommunications between visible light sending and receiving devices maybe influenced if the bit error ratio increases to exceed the sixththreshold. By using the control module 340, the related first logicpixel unit may be divided into at least two second logic pixel units tobe read separately when reading charges, which can reduce noise receiptin the communication process and reduce the bit error ratio of thereceived signal.

In a further possible implementation, the determining module 320 may notdetermine the communication performance directly by using a receivedsignal, but determine the communication performance between sending andreceiving devices directly according to a change in the distance betweenthe sending and receiving devices. The value of the distance between thesending and receiving devices may reflect the level of the communicationperformance to some extent. For example, increase of the distance maycause reduction in the communication performance. In such theimplementation, as shown in FIG. 3(h), the determining module 320 mayfurther comprise a third determining submodule 326 and a fourthdetermining submodule 328.

The third determining submodule 326 is configured to determine thedistance between the visible light receiving device and the at least onevisible light signal transmit device. For example, the position of avisible light signal transmit device may be determined in a method suchas GPS positioning, to further determine the distance between thevisible light signal transmit device and the visible light signalreceiving device, or the distance may be acquired through directcommunications with the visible light signal transmit device.

The fourth determining submodule 328 is configured to determinereduction in the communication performance in response to that thedistance increases, or the increment of the distance exceeds a sevenththreshold, or the distance exceeds an eighth threshold. The sevenththreshold and the eighth threshold both can be determined according tothe communication demand and/or historical communication information.For example, the seventh threshold is set to such a value thatcommunications between visible light sending and receiving devices maybe influenced if the increment of the distance exceeds the sevenththreshold. The eighth threshold is set to such a value that normalcommunications between visible light sending and receiving devices maybe influenced if the distance increases to exceed the eighth threshold.

In such the implementation, the control module 340 may still determinethe at least one first logic pixel unit of the image sensor incombination with the description for the second determining submodule342, or may directly control to take each of first logic pixels as atleast two second logic pixel units to be read when reading charges.

It should be noted that the communication performance may be determinedby comprehensively considering all the aforementioned evaluationindicators in the apparatus of the embodiments of the presentapplication. For example, the increase in the communication distance maynot cause the reduction in the communication performance, and forexample, the signal-to-noise ratio of the received signal may beconsidered comprehensively. In addition to the aforementioned evaluationindicators, other indicators for evaluating the communication qualitymay further be considered in the apparatus of the embodiments of thepresent application, for example, a channel estimation value, a systemthroughput, and any other indicator that can be easily conceived of by aperson of ordinary skill in the art.

In view of the above, the apparatus of the embodiments of the presentapplication can be simply controlled and can improve the communicationquality of visible light communications.

As shown in FIG. 4, the embodiments of the present application furtherprovide a visible light signal receiving device 400. The device 400comprises the visible light signal receiving and control apparatuses300, as shown in FIG. 3(a) to FIG. 3(h), and in addition, furthercomprises an image sensor 420, a signal processing module 440, or thelike. The signal processing module 440 is configured to read aninductive charge of the image sensor 420 and perform analog-to-digitalconversion, demodulation, or the like on the inductive charge under thecontrol of the apparatus 300.

FIG. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a visible light signalreceiving and control apparatus 500 provided by the embodiments of thepresent application. The specific embodiments of the present applicationdo not specifically limit the visible light signal receiving and controlapparatus 500. As shown in FIG. 5, the visible light signal receivingand control apparatus 500 may comprise:

a processor 510, a communications interface 520, a memory 530, and acommunications bus 540.

The processor 510, the communications interface 520, and the memory 530communicate with each other by using the communications bus 540.

The communications interface 520 is configured to communicate with anetwork element such as a client.

The processor 510 is configured to execute a program 532 and mayspecifically implement related functions of the visible light signalreceiving and control apparatus in the apparatus embodiment in FIG.3(a).

Specifically, the program 532 may comprise a program code, where theprogram code comprises a computer operation instruction.

The processor 510 may be a central processing unit (CPU), an applicationspecific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuitsconfigured to implement the embodiments of the present application. Theprogram 532 may specifically execute the following steps by using thevisible light signal receiving and control apparatus 500:

determining a communication performance between a visible light signalreceiving device and at least one visible light signal transmit device;and

in response to a reduction in the communication performance between thevisible light signal receiving device and the at least one visible lightsignal transmit device, take a first logic pixel unit of the imagesensor related to the at least one visible light signal transmit deviceas at least two second logic pixel units to read separately, whenreading an inductive charge of an image sensor of the visible lightsignal receiving device.

Each of the first logic pixel units comprises the at least two of thesecond logic pixel units. Each of the at least two second logic pixelunits comprises at least one physical pixel unit of the image sensor.

For the specific implementation of the steps in the program 532, referto the corresponding descriptions of corresponding steps and units inthe foregoing embodiments, which are not described herein again. It maybe clearly understood by a person skilled in the art that, for thepurpose of convenient and brief description, reference may be made tothe description of corresponding procedures in the foregoing methodembodiments for detailed working procedures of the foregoing devices andmodules, and details are not described herein again.

It may be clearly understood by a person skilled in the art that, forthe purpose of convenient and brief description, reference may be madeto the corresponding description in the foregoing apparatus embodimentsfor detailed working procedures of the foregoing devices and modules,and details are not described herein again.

Although the invention is described herein in the general context ofprogram modules that execute in conjunction with an application programthat runs on an operating system on a computer system, a person skilledin the art will recognize that the invention may also be implemented incombination with other types of program modules. Generally, programmodules comprise routines, programs, components, data structures andother types of structures that perform particular tasks or implementparticular abstract data types. It can be understood by a person skilledin the art that the invention described herein may be practiced withother computer system configurations, comprising handheld devices,multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumerelectronics, minicomputers, mainframe computers, and so on, and may alsobe practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks areperformed by remote processing devices linked through a communicationsnetwork. In a distributed computing environment, program modules may belocated in both local and remote memory storage devices.

A person of ordinary skill in the art may be aware that, in combinationwith the examples described in the embodiments disclosed in thisspecification, units and method steps may be implemented by electronichardware or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware.Whether the functions are performed by hardware or software depends onparticular applications and design constraint conditions of thetechnical solutions. A person skilled in the art may use differentmethods to implement the described functions for each particularapplication, but it should not be considered that the implementationgoes beyond the scope of the present application.

When the functions are implemented in a form of a software functionalunit and sold or used as an independent product, the functions may bestored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on such anunderstanding, the technical solutions of the present applicationessentially, or the part contributing to the existing art, or all or apart of the technical solutions may be implemented in the form of asoftware product. The software product is stored in a storage medium andcomprises several instructions for instructing a computer device (whichmay be a personal computer, a server, or a network device) or aprocessor to perform all or a part of the steps of the methods in theembodiments of the present application. The foregoing computer-readablestorage medium comprises physical volatile and non-volatile, removableand non-removable mediums that are implemented in any method ortechnology for storage of information such as computer-readableinstructions, data structures, program modules or other data. Thecomputer-readable storage medium may specifically comprise, but is notlimited to, a U flash drive, a removable hard disk, a read-only memory(ROM), a random access memory (RAM), an erasable programmable read onlymemory (EPROM), an electrically erasable and programmable read-onlymemory (EEPROM), a flash memory or other solid-state memory device, aCD-ROM, a digital versatile disc (DVD), an HD-DVD, Blue-Ray or otheroptical storage devices, a magnetic tape, disk storage or other magneticstorage devices, or any other medium that can store needed informationand may be accessed by computers.

The above implementations are only used to describe the presentapplication, rather than limit the present application; variousalterations and variants can be made by those of ordinary skill in theart without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentapplication, so all equivalent technical solutions also belong to thescope of the present application, and the scope of patent protection ofthe present application should be defined by claims.

1. A visible light signal receiving and control method, wherein the method comprises: determining a communication performance between a visible light signal receiving device and at least one visible light signal transmit device; and in response to a reduction in the communication performance between the visible light signal receiving device and the at least one visible light signal transmit device, taking a first logic pixel unit of an image sensor related to the at least one visible light signal transmit device as at least two second logic pixel units to read separately, when reading an inductive charge of the image sensor of the visible light signal receiving device, each of the first logic pixel units comprising the at least two second logic pixel units, and each of the at least two second logic pixel units comprising at least one physical pixel unit of the image sensor.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the communication performance between the visible light signal receiving device and the at least one visible light signal transmit device comprises: determining, at least according to a visible light signal received by each first logic pixel unit of the image sensor, the communication performance between the visible light signal receiving device and the at least one visible light signal transmit device.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein determining, at least according to a visible light signal received by each first logic pixel unit of the image sensor, the communication performance between the visible light signal receiving device and the at least one visible light signal transmit device comprises: demodulating a visible light signal received by each first logic pixel unit of the image sensor; for each of the first logic pixel units, in response to being able to obtain a modulating signal by the demodulating, determining a visible light signal from the at least one visible light signal transmit device and determining the communication performance between the visible light signal receiving device and the at least one visible light signal transmit device at least according to the determined visible light signal; and for each of the first logic pixel unit, in response being not able to obtain a modulating signal by the demodulating, determining reduction of the communication performance between the visible light signal receiving device and the at least one visible light signal transmit device.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein determining the communication performance between the visible light signal receiving device and the at least one visible light signal transmit device at least according to the determined visible light signal comprises: determining at least one evaluation indicator of the communication performance at least according to the determined visible light signal; and determining the communication performance between the visible light signal receiving device and the at least one visible light signal transmit device at least according to the evaluation indicator.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the evaluation indicator comprises: the size of a light spot projected by the at least one visible light signal transmit device on the image sensor; and determining the communication performance between the visible light signal receiving device and the at least one visible light signal transmit device at least according to the evaluation indicator comprises: determining the reduction in the communication performance in response to that the size of the light spot decreases, or the reduction amount of the size of the light spot exceeds a first threshold, or the size of the light spot is smaller than a second threshold.
 6. The method of claim 4, wherein the evaluation indicator comprises: the signal-to-noise ratio of the visible light signal received by the visible light signal receiving device from the at least one visible light signal transmit device; and determining the communication performance between the visible light signal receiving device and the at least one visible light signal transmit device at least according to the evaluation indicator comprises: determining the reduction in the communication performance in response to that the signal-to-noise ratio decreases, the reduction amount of the signal-to-noise ratio exceeds a third threshold, or the signal-to-noise ratio is less than a fourth threshold.
 7. The method of claim 4, wherein the evaluation indicator comprises: a bit error ratio of the visible light signal received by the visible light signal receiving device from the at least one visible light signal transmit device; and determining the communication performance between the visible light signal receiving device and the at least one visible light signal transmit device at least according to the evaluation indicator comprises: determining the reduction in the communication performance in response to that the bit error ratio increases, or an increment of the bit error ratio exceeds a fifth threshold, or the bit error ratio exceeds a sixth threshold.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein determining a communication performance between a visible light signal receiving device and at least one visible light signal transmit device comprises: determining the distance between the visible light receiving device and the at least one visible light signal transmit device; and determining the reduction in the communication performance in response to that the distance increases, or an increment of the distance exceeds a seventh threshold, or the distance exceeds an eighth threshold.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein determining a communication performance between a visible light signal receiving device and at least one visible light signal transmit device comprises: acquiring the communication performance between the visible light signal receiving device and the at least one visible light signal transmit device.
 10. The method of claim 3, wherein taking a first logic pixel unit of an image sensor related to the at least one visible light signal transmit device as at least two second logic pixel units to read separately comprises: determining a first logic pixel unit of the image sensor related to the at least one visible light signal transmit device at least according to the visible light signal received by each first logic pixel unit of the image sensor.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein determining the first logic pixel unit of the image sensor related to the at least one visible light signal transmit device at least according to the visible light signal received by each first logic pixel unit of the image sensor comprises: determining the first logic pixel unit of the image sensor related to the at least one visible light signal transmit device at least according to the determined visible light signal.
 12. The method of claim 10, wherein determining the first logic pixel unit of the image sensor related to the at least one visible light signal transmit device at least according to the visible light signal received by each first logic pixel unit of the image sensor comprises: determining that at least one first logic pixel unit by which the visible light signal being not able to obtain a modulating signal by the demodulating is the first logic pixel unit of the image sensor related to the at least one visible light signal transmit device.
 13. A visible light signal receiving and control apparatus, comprising: a determining module, configured to determine a communication performance between a visible light signal receiving device and at least one visible light signal transmit device; and a control module, configured to, in response to a reduction in the communication performance between the visible light signal receiving device and the at least one visible light signal transmit device, take a first logic pixel unit of an image sensor related to the at least one visible light signal transmit device as at least two second logic pixel units to read separately, when reading inductive charges of the image sensor of the visible light signal receiving device, each of the first logic pixel units comprising at least two of the second logic pixel units, and each of the at least two second logic pixel units comprising at least one physical pixel unit of the image sensor.
 14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the determining module comprises: a first determining submodule, configured to determine, at least according to a visible light signal received by each first logic pixel unit of the image sensor, the communication performance between the visible light signal receiving device and the at least one visible light signal transmit device.
 15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the first determining submodule comprises: a demodulating unit, configured to demodulate a visible light signal received by each first logic pixel unit of the image sensor; a first determining unit, configured to: for each of the first logic pixel units, in response to being able to obtain a modulating signal by the demodulating, determine a visible light signal from the at least one visible light signal transmit device and determine the communication performance between the visible light signal receiving device and the at least one visible light signal transmit device at least according to the determined visible light signal; and a second determining unit, configured to: for each of the first logic pixel unit, in response to being not able to obtain a modulating signal by the demodulating, determine the reduction in the communication performance between the visible light signal receiving device and the at least one visible light signal transmit device.
 16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the first determining unit comprises: a first determining subunit, configured to determine at least one evaluation indicator of the communication performance at least according to the visible light signal; and a second determining subunit, configured to determine the communication performance between the visible light signal receiving device and the at least one visible light signal transmit device at least according to the evaluation indicator.
 17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the evaluation indicator comprises: the size of a light spot projected by the at least one visible light signal transmit device on the image sensor; and the second determining subunit is configured to determine the reduction in the communication performance in response to that the size of the light spot decreases, or a reduction amount of the size of the light spot exceeds a first threshold, or the size of the light spot is smaller than a second threshold.
 18. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the evaluation indicator comprises: the signal-to-noise ratio of the visible light signal received by the visible light signal receiving device from the at least one visible light signal transmit device; and the second determining subunit is configured to determine the reduction in the communication performance in response to that the signal-to-noise ratio decreases, a reduction amount of the signal-to-noise ratio exceeds a third threshold, or the signal-to-noise ratio is less than a fourth threshold.
 19. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the evaluation indicator comprises: the bit error ratio of the visible light signal received by the visible light signal receiving device from the at least one visible light signal transmit device; and the second determining subunit is configured to determine the reduction in the communication performance in response to that the bit error ratio increases, or an increment of the bit error ratio exceeds a fifth threshold, or the bit error ratio exceeds a sixth threshold.
 20. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the determining module comprises: a third determining submodule, configured to determine the distance between the visible light receiving device and the at least one visible light signal transmit device; and a fourth determining submodule, configured to determine the reduction in the communication performance in response to that the distance increases, or an increment of the distance exceeds a seventh threshold, or the distance exceeds an eighth threshold.
 21. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the determining module comprises: an acquiring submodule, configured to acquire the communication performance between the visible light signal receiving device and the at least one visible light signal transmit device.
 22. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the control module comprises: a second determining submodule, configured to determine a first logic pixel unit of the image sensor related to the at least one visible light signal transmit device at least according to the visible light signal received by each first logic pixel unit of the image sensor.
 23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the second determining submodule comprises: a third determining unit, configure to determine the first logic pixel unit of the image sensor related to the at least one visible light signal transmit device at least according to the visible light signal determined by the first determining unit.
 24. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the second determining submodule comprises: a fourth determining unit, configured to determine that at least one first logic pixel unit by which the visible light signal being not able to obtain a modulating signal by the demodulating is received is the first logic pixel unit of the image sensor related to the at least one visible light signal transmit device.
 25. A visible light signal receiving device, wherein the device comprises the visible light signal receiving and control apparatus of claim
 13. 26. The device of claim 25, wherein the device further comprises: an image sensor; and a signal processing module, configured to read an inductive charge of the image sensor under control of the visible light signal receiving and control apparatus.
 27. A computer readable storage device, comprising at least one executable instruction, which, in response to execution, causes a system comprising a processor to perform operations, comprising: determining a communication performance between a visible light signal receiving device and at least one visible light signal transmit device; in response to a reduction in the communication performance between the visible light signal receiving device and the at least one visible light signal transmit device, taking a first logic pixel unit of an image sensor related to the at least one visible light signal transmit device as at least two second logic pixel units to read separately, when reading an inductive charge of the image sensor of the visible light signal receiving device, each of the first logic pixel units comprising the at least two second logic pixel units, and each of the at least two second logic pixel units comprising at least one physical pixel unit of the image sensor.
 28. A device for visible light signal receiving and control comprising a processor and memory, wherein the memory storing a computer executable instruction, the processor being connected with the memory via a communication bus, and when the device is operating, the processor executes or facilitates execution of the executable instructions stored by the memory: determining a communication performance between a visible light signal receiving device and at least one visible light signal transmit device; in response to a reduction in the communication performance between the visible light signal receiving device and the at least one visible light signal transmit device, taking a first logic pixel unit of an image sensor related to the at least one visible light signal transmit device as at least two second logic pixel units to read separately, when reading an inductive charge of the image sensor of the visible light signal receiving device, each of the first logic pixel units comprising at least two second logic pixel units, and each of the at least two second logic pixel units comprising at least one physical pixel unit of the image sensor. 